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Thanksgiving and now Christmas is over and it seems like it all went by so fast. It is so much to get prepared for and plan and then it is all over so quickly. The next holiday might be New Years Eve on Monday, but I have still been hanging with the family and trying to make the most of these special times spent together. As you saw on my Instagram stories on Christmas Day was my nephew’s 20th birthday. This has always been an important day for us, and as always we celebrate my nephew after we have done Christmas. Even though some people might complain about spending time with their family during the holidays or want to go back home early, it is making these special moments together that make it all worth it. See my tips below and the pictures that my mom, niece and myself took together.

• You Laugh Till You Cry: Depending on the family this could mean several different things to many of you. Sometimes your family might be getting on your nerves that you start laughing so that you don’t cry. For our family this most likely involves some type of game or a story that our whole family joins in on during the holidays. It is typically foozeball that we play or a trivia game. This year on Christmas we played Speak Out and that game was hilarious. It is sharing in these types of laughing memories that make it all fun.
• Everyone is Honest: The one good thing about family members is that everyone is pretty honest. I have been at several Thanksgivings with my extended family in East Texas where we have learned so many facts about people we didn’t know before. If you can’t carry a tune to a Christmas carol your family will be the first one to tell you. If you want to know their real opinion of a guy you liked, well just ask your family. It is like a therapy session whether you want one or not.
• You Get to Brag On Yourself: Everyone wants to know how your year has been with your job, activities, and all of your other business. This is a time spent with your family during the holidays that you get to talk about everything that has been going on in your life including that promotion you got at work. If you are like my family, there are a lot more alphas so that can be interesting, but it is all in good fun.
• Learn Your History: There is not a holiday that goes by that I don’t learn something new about my family history. Whether it was a tradition that was celebrated when my parents were younger or that my grandparents lived in a state that I had no idea about. I love to go around and say a favorite memory that everyone has about that certain holiday. This is when we learn all of these facts and a little bit of history on our family members.
• A Good Time to Un-Plug: It is not all about social media and looking at your apps when you are spending quality time with your family. Even though I do post some of the funny videos that my family does, it is all about being in the moment and just having fun together. We spend so much of our time on our phones, so if we can just go out to dinner with one another and leave our phone at home and just talk to each other then that makes it all worth it.
• Embrace These Times: One day you won’t have everyone all together in one place for this holiday. This is a time to really love one another and give each other a hug and embrace these special times. As the years go by, the people in the photos might change but it is the memories you shared that mean the most.

These are some of my favorite reasons to be with my family members during the holidays. If you only get to see your family during the holidays, it is nice to remember some of these reasons above and make the most out of your trip. Soon you will want to spend more time with them and wish that the holidays would be here sooner every year.